Time to decorate

I went into Christmas overdrive yesterday, doing my first round of shopping and decorating the Christmas tree. I also made one more card, so hopefully I have enough now.

The card was inspired by the photo inspiration at the Share The Joy challenge, and the sketch is from Mojo Monday.  The ornaments are from a set by Hero Arts (maybe... it has disappeared in the current mess) and they are silvere mbossed on green snippets (the green paper has a slightly raised stripe pattern that showed up in the embossing, but I'm calling that texture...).  The sentiment is from the dollar bin at Michael's, also on snippets, with the silver paper recycled from some advertising brochure that arrived in the mail and got added to the snippets bin.  The red, still another snipped, is cut with a Marianne border die.
I am entering these challenges:

Mojo Monday #427 -- sketch
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Christmas
Share the Joy #14 -- inspiration photo
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #259 -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
Holly Jolly Christmas -- Merry Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #213 -- anything goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #207 -- use those snippets

Fall Flowers

I made this card using the current Mojo Monday sketch. The image is from Impression-Obsession, colored with pencils. There are a couple of layers of Glossy Accents on the vase, so it actually looks like a glass vase in person. The image is wrapped with coordinating baker's twine.  The sentiment is from Purple Onion Designs.


I'm entering these challenges:

Mojo Monday #422
Simon Says Stamp Monday-- make it glossy
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- thanks
The Ribbon Girl -- anything goes
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes
Kraftin' Kmmie's wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge - use patterned paper

CAS Christmas

I used the current Mojo Monday sketch to make this CAS Christmas card. The Christmas tree image (source unknown) is stamped in Garden Green and matted on a red snippet. The packages along the side are all cardstock stickers.

This card is for these challenges:

Mojo Monday -- #418
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- CAS Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #249 -- all wrapped up
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas ChallengeExtra/October -- anything Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #204 -- anything goes

Going Batty

Seems like I have done a lot of Christmas cards lately, so for something completely different.... how about Halloween?

I got inspired to dig out some never used Halloween supplies in the spirit of Darnell's NBUS#5 challenge (Never Before Used Stuff).  The image is a digi from QKR Stampede which I have never used before, and the bats are rub-ons from a set I've never used. (The set of rub-ons was actually part of a grab bag of what was mostly Christmas crafting items I got at a consignment sale, so these are doubly NBUS, if such a thing is possible!)
I used the current Mojo sketch as my inspiration.

The card is for these challenges:

Mojo #414
NBUS5 -- NBUS= image and bat rub-ons
PaperTake Weekly Challenge -- things with wings
Word Art Wednesday #200 -- anything goes

Bee happy

I got this image as an RAK recently and it's such a happy image I was really eager to use it. It was stamped on watercolor paper, which I don't usually use since I color with pencils, but it adds an interesting texture.
I used the current Mojo Monday sketch for this. Since there was already a sentiment on the image, I used the banner area for ribbon that has sunflowers on it. I tried doing one of those random loops of string I've seen on other cards, but I'm not sure I like it (or did it right).

This card is for these challenges:
Mojo Monday #409
Addicted to Stamps #156-- anything goes
Crafting for all Seasons #107-- Bright and Beautiful
Ribbon Girl -- must include ribbon
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Word Art Wednesday #195  -- anything goes
Clear it Out -- anything goes
V's Sweet Ideas #37 -- anything goes.

Back to Diagon Alley

A few weeks ago I mentioned I really like strong diagonal elements in card layouts. This week's Mojo sketch had one, so I decided to try it.
The stamps are from Purple Onion, colored in pencils. There is a bit of Diamond Glaze on the glass. That's a sand-pail-shaped eyelet by the sentiment.  Someone must have given it go me -- while I will take the blame for buying regular eyelets by the hundreds, I have never purchased any in weird shapes. (I like my supplies to have at least some versatility, and how often do you need a bucket-shaped eyelet?)
The papers are all snippets, and if you look closely you can see a little patchwork I had to do. I'll have to figure out a way to cover that.

Entering the card in these challenges:
Mojo Monday -- sketch 405
Pattie's Creations -- make a splash
The Divas that Die-cut -- summer
The Paper Shelter -- summer vacation
Clear it Out -- Anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #191 -- anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps #159 -- anything goes
Catch the Bug -- Anything goes
Pixies Snippet Playground

Mojo cosmos

I carried some of my supplies from yesterday over to another card.  I had created this coral-colored wax-resist paper, and used part of the sheet yesterday. I decided to put the snippets to good use and see how the coral worked with green.
The layout is the current Mojo sketch. The image is from Pattie's Creations (I'm not actually sure if cosmos come in coral or pink; it seems like all the ones I have grown were white or purple). It's colored with pencils and it's mounted on a coral-colored snippet of card stock. Sentiment is from Stampin Up.  There's a strip of adhesive lace along the diagonal cut, and the white silk flower was colored by sponging some Coral Cameo ink on it.
I'm entering this challenges:
Pattie's Creations #110-- use flower image
Mojo Monday #396 -- sketch 
Pixie's Snippet Playground #175- use snippets
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- coral
Word Art Wednesday #182 -- anything goes

Keep thinking spring

Yesterday we got a serious hint of spring. Today it's dreary winter again. But I'm going to keep crafting like it's spring.
This card is all about spring -- you can tell, because I broke out the Flower Soft. As I've mentioned before, the only jar of the stuff I have is this white/pink/green mix that looks like cherry trees in bloom, so every spring I use it to make a few blooming tree cards. (At my current rate of usage, this jar will last into the next century).
I used the current Mojo Monday sketch for this. The trees are stamped in Sepia. Before adding the Flower Soft, I die-cut the circle, sponged in sky and colored in grass. The color of the die-cut sentiment picks up the blue from paper, which is from an old Cosmos Cricket pack.
I found a blue button in a similar color, and added embroidery floss to that before adhering.

I'm entering these challenges:
Mojo Monday #387 -- sketch
Divas that Die Cut -- spring
Crafty Sentiments -- Spring colors
Creative Inspiration #303-- use something old (Flower Soft has been sitting around for 6 or 7 years, I'd say)
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps #141-- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #173 -- anything goews
CHCN patterned paper challenge -- Cover your card with patterned paper

With a flourish

     I guess flourishes are still "in," because I do see them a lot as a way to use bling, but I haven't really thought about using flourishes for a while. One of the Virtual Stamp Night challenges at SCS was to use swirls or flourishes. 
     As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew I wanted to use this bird by Inkdadinkadoo. I had seen it used on a card somewhere in the last few days, so it was fresh in my mind. I usually use the larger birds from this set, so it was good to put some ink on this.
     I used the Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO227) as the basis for this card. The bird is stamped in Ranger Denim ink, then clear embossed. I also sponged the denim ink around the edges of the oval and on the top silk flower to done down the white.
     The papers are from Stampin Up  and the lace is a paper adhesive lace from K&Co. (I love this stuff; got it at Tuesday Morning and would grap another package if I found it anywhere.)
     I'm really starting to like the look of monochromatic cards.  What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Bro

May is a big birthday month in our family, so this is a good month to find inspiration for birthday cards. I made this birthday card for my brother, thanks to inspiration from a couple of challenges. I used the same printed papers as for a father's day card I made, so I guess the Father's Day card goes to my FIL -- not that I seriously think my dad and brother would notice the similarities in papers. (Would yours?)

The sailboat inspiration is from this week's Etsy Challenge (EIC137). The shop is Imagine Studio, and it sells some amazing art prints. I took my inspiration from this one of three boats.
The layout is this week's Mojo sketch, MOJO189.

Finally, this qualifies for this week's Magical Monday Challenge, to make a birthday card.

Supplies: Stamps -- Stampin Up and CTMH. Ink -- Momento Tuxedo Black; colored pencils and OMS, border punch, red bakers twine, tiny ruby faux gems.

Pastel pleasures

I love pastels. They're pretty and easy to work with, so I'm always happy to use them. This three-fer card uses the lovely pastels for this week's Off the Wall Craftiness Challnge (OTWC50) -- see the inspiration photo below.

It's also for this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge (EIC134), Think Fast Designs, a shop that sells both jewelry and fabric items. I loved this vintage-looking quilt that incorporates these pastel spring colors and also features a mix of prints with polka-dots, inspiring my dotted panel.

Finally, this card incorporates this week's Mojo Monday Sketch (MOJO186).

Supplies: Stamp by Inkadinkadoo; sentiment computer generated. Striped paper is by Heidi Grace. Yellow ribbon is by Martha Stewart; plaid ribbon is from Michael's. Nesties, Swiss Dot embossing folder and border punch also used.

Mojo flipped

This is the second, "improved" version (above).

I have a new job/freelance client, and it's really eating into my crafting time. I'm finding myself more and more prone to combining challenges.

This one is a three-fer. It's the Technique and CAS challenges from SCS for this week, plus Mojo Monday sketch 90. The technique challenge was to color an image on acetate, and CAS was a color challenge.

I created one version Monday night, but I wasn't completely happy with it. This morning, I tried again, turning the sketch on it's side and moving and separating the embellies. I think it looks much better.

Stamp is by Stamps on Fire. Stamped with black StaZon on acetate, colored with a Sharpie pen.

The white layer is embossed with the Swiss Dot folder.